Federal shutdown might delay passports, slow claims

As Washington politicians once again lock horns and threaten to stop funding the federal government Oct. 1, Oakland County residents may look around and wonder, how will it matter to me?

Not that much, according to area people consulted on the matter.

For the record, the last time the federal government shut down was five days in November 1995 and another 21 days, ending in January 1996, during the Clinton administration.

This time around, Sen. Ted Cruz, a tea party favorite from Texas pushed fellow Republicans to link a temporary budget bill with a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act. Some Republicans have vowed to shut down the government unless they can stop the law from taking hold.

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While work continues on a temporary spending bill, a potentially more devastating separate deadline looms a few weeks later when the government could run out of money to pay its bills.

If a shutdown did occur, Bloomfield Township Clerk Jan Roncelli said her office would still accept passport applications, “but they would be delayed in being processed at the federal level.

“When this happened in 2011, we canceled a Passport Day we had scheduled. All federal offices were closed,” she said.

Once again Roncelli’s office is holding a Passport Day for residents and nonresidents from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, and there is no plan to change it.

Roncelli said no one is panicking about their passports right now.

“We have a very steady business,” she said.

Garth Wootten, division manager for Oakland County Veterans’ Services, said he has not seen much guidance to date on how a shutdown would impact Veterans Administration (VA) operations.

“I can tell you in 2011 the agency indicated that VA medical centers and healthcare would not be impacted,” he said.

“Veterans benefits would continue to be paid but processing of new claims for compensation, pension or education would be slowed or stopped. Internments at National Cemeteries would continue on a modified rate.

The Oakland County office is county-funded so it would not create a shutdown or slowdown in Wootten’s division.

“However, it would impact us indirectly,” he said. “It would slow down the processing of VA compensation, education, vocational rehabilitation and pension claims. This would be especially disappointing as the VA has been making improvement in processing times for claims. It will also be difficult or impossible to get in contact with VA employees if we need information regarding claims we have submitted. We will also spend a lot of time reassuring nervous veterans that they will continue to receive their monthly benefits check during the shutdown.”

Susan Eckerly, National Federation of Independent Business public policy senior vice president, addressed how the shutdown would affect small business owners.

“Both ongoing, massive debt and the specter of a possible government shutdown are adding to the uncertainty that small-business owners have been feeling for some time now. There is no doubt that Washington, D.C., is making the small-business community very nervous, and that’s bad for the economy,” she said.

Emily Cain, spokeswoman with Washington D.C.-based Office of Management & Budget, said “prudent management requires that the government plan for the possibility of a lapse and OMB is working with agencies to take appropriate action. This includes agencies reviewing relevant legal requirements and updating their plans for executing an orderly shutdown. This planning is consistent with what was done in previous instances where a potential lapse in appropriations was approaching.”